Advertising Trends: Pre-roll Video Advertisements

Pre-roll advertising has been growing trend amongst local and national advertisers alike because it is a great way to reach and engage your target market.

A Pre-roll video ad is a video advertisement that begins playing prior to watching a video online. For example, I might go to YouTube and search for a video on how to train my new puppy, but before I watch the video, I see a 15 second pre-roll ad for a local dog trainer. The ad is effective in grabbing my attention, it delivers a simple but intriguing call to action, I realize I don’t have the time or energy needed to train this puppy and the dog trainer’s name and phone number are on the screen right in front of me.

I now have options: I can click a link in the ad to be taken directly to the dog trainer’s website, I can call now or jot down the phone number to call later, or I may just watch the video on how to train my new puppy, decide I’m not up to the task and Google search the dog trainer I just saw in the pre-roll ad.

How do I know my pre-roll ad is being shown to my target market?

When we set up your pre-roll video campaign we select parameters for the geographic areas where your ads will play, the demographics of who should see the ads, and the YouTube video topics that will trigger your pre-roll ad.

But can’t people just skip my ad?

Yes, potentially a viewer could click the Skip Ad button and go straight to the video they requested to watch. Here’s the good news: The pre-roll ads we run on YouTube are called True-view ads. This means that you are only charged for an ad impression if the viewer watched the entire pre-roll ad. Additionally, a 15 second pre-roll ad is more likely to be watched in its entirety.

Can I play the same video advertisement on TV?

Yes, pre-roll video advertising and TV advertising can go hand in hand. Tucci Creative can produce video advertisements to be run both in TV spots and as pre-roll ads online, which means one production cost for two advertising mediums. Or we can create companion ads as part of a campaign, perhaps a 15 second spot for pre-roll and a 30, 45, or 60 second spot for TV. Either method provides repetition across mediums which helps to increase your exposure to prospective customers online and on-air.

And because Tucci Creative is a full service advertising agency we can provide the concept, creative writing, production, sound and special effects for your video advertisement all in our own studio without any outsourcing, so we can pass the savings on to our clients.